Update: Registration Fees; VLT; Gas Tax & ADA
The Arizona Legislature has completed its fifth week of session. Next week is the final week for bills to be heard in their chamber of origin. Discussions regarding the state budget have been ongoing. The House will start hearing Senate bills the week of February 20th and vis versa. Legislators are meeting in small groups and the leadership is interfacing with the Governor’s Office. Several committees have heard budget presentations from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The focus this year, per Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Yee, is economic development and job growth. “Everyone had economic development and job growth in their priorities, so we put that on top of our list for our majority plan,” she said. Below are some of the major issues before the Legislature currently:
SB1146-Registration Fees; VLT; Gas Tax
Transportation advocates have introduced several bills in a hope to find funding for state roadways. Senator Bob Worsley is a loyal advocate of transportation as he pushes for a hike in gas tax. “It’s not just that the gasoline tax has remined static at 18 cents a gallon since 1991, even as the price of fuel has gone up. There’s also the fact that vehicles are more fuel efficient,” he said. There is likely to be push back from legislators and the governor’s office.
On Wednesday, a rally and protest was held on the Capital lawn to protest Senator John Kavanagh’s SB1198. SB1198 would allocate businesses a grace period to amend the ADA violation before a lawsuit can be filed. “The bill is aimed at the “the extremely questionable lawsuit activity by a very small number of lawyers,” said Kavanagh. Representative Maria Syms introduced HB2504 this week. “This bill discourages the thousands of ‘drive-by’ lawsuits aimed primarily at attorney’s fees, while preserving the civil rights of those truly harmed by ADA violations. It’s a win for both the business community and the disabled community,” said Syms.